Creative and eccentric is an understatement when describing the ground breaking duo, husband and wife, Dusty Santamaria and Moira Ichiban. They met on a full-moon night in Portland, Oregan, fell in love and ran away together to the Southern California desert. Since then they’ve masterfully created two full albums. The first debut album titled “Love Under Will” was released in 2017 and took Dusty and Moira on tour all over the United States and Europe. Dusty Santamaria and Moira Ichiban have officially released their second album “Innersexion”! Their eclectic avant-garage sound sets them apart from other artists and keeps them delivering transcendent hits.
The deep chemistry between this duo is evident in their newest single “Apocalypse Now And Later”. An upbeat composition with poetic vocals. As a vocalist, Dusty is spectacular but the femininity and harmonizing that Moira brings is radiant. I believe that this song is the story of Dusty and Moira escaping the ending world together and creating something beautiful while they can, the last lyric in “Apocalypse Now And Later” is, “To love is to create something together”. Be sure to listen to Dusty Santamaria and Moira Ichiban’s full album “Innersexion” and I highly recommend you give “Apocalypse Now And Later” a listen and create your own interpretations!
Listen to full album "Innersexion" here and read the full interview with Dusty and Moira below!
What’s the meaning behind “Apocalypse Now And Later”?
On a superficial level, “Apocalypse Now and Later”, is just a songwriter’s trick of combining two opposing things; in this case, Francis Ford Coppola's great film and the name of a trashy corporate candy. More substantially though, it’s an observation of the apocalypse culture we all currently live in.
The etymology of the word “Apocalypse” comes from the Greek “apokalupsis,” which means an uncovering, a lifting of the veil, or a disclosure of something hidden.
That song consciously opposes the lingering hangover of the literal Christian interpretation which manifests culturally in the popularity of dystopian fear narratives and end of the world scenarios. We feel that the stakes are too high to keep reinforcing anxiety. Thoughts are causative, especially on a mass scale.
The apocalypse doesn’t have to mean the total destruction of humanity. It can also be the enlightenment of the entire planet.
Where has been your favorite place to perform?
We love house shows and DIY spaces with strong community values. We enjoy playing any place that lends itself to potential collaboration and the exchange of ideas.
Would you consider creating a music video for “Apocalypse Now And Later”?
Yes, absolutely! We plan on making a music video for every song on Innersexion. The marriage of video and audio is absolutely integral to the way folks experience new bands these days. It’s an exciting way to merge artistic mediums. We made the music video for “Digital Fuck Talk” on our own with a phone camera, learning how to edit as we went. The whole process was a ritual for transformation. With “Apocalypse Now and Later” we’d love to collaborate with an artist or multiple artists who see video as their primary medium.
What musical artists do you look up to?
Gosh, that list is long and potentially endless. We like a lot of different things for a lot of different reasons. We admire the Portland band Dead Moon a lot, not only for their music but also for their fearless approach to embodying and succeeding in the DIY lifestyle. Fred Cole was just a knockout lyricist. Plus, like us, he and Toody were a married couple who were typically older than the other bands in their scene. We’ve also really been digging a record called “Book of Changes” by L.A.’s Entrance. We hope to play a show with him sometime.
With such a romantic background can you tell us what inspired you to run away together?
It was Instinct, really. We spent a weekend together in Albuquerque, New Mexico and we both felt that there was something we needed to learn from one another on a karmic level so we said yes to instinct and ran off together.
What's next for you through 2019?
We began the year with the symbolic representation of rebirth seen in the “Digital Fuck Talk” video. Now we need to tend the garden we’ve planted to ensure that the seeds grow healthy. The rest of the year sees Innersexion being heard and noticed by as many people as we can share it with. We’re looking for more collaborators, to “find the others” as Tim Leary used to say. We want our “Voodoo It Yourself” organization to be more like “Voodoo It Yourself Together”. Ultimately we want to reach more folks and move forward in our work of using art for liberation.
Connect with Dusty Santamaria and Moira Ichiban on social media:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/voodooityourself
Website: www.voodooityourself.com
Upcoming Tour Dates:
Innersexion Tour dates 2019
4.12 Venice, CA ~ Beyond Baroque//Record Release (with poetry readings by Milo Martin and SA Griffin and a solo set by Innersexion guitarist Galen Ballinger)
4.13 Davis, CA ~ Armadillo Music
4.14 San Francisco, CA ~ The Knockout (with The Slow Poisoner and Grendel’s Claw)
4.16 Medford, OR ~ Johnny B’s
4.17 Eugene, OR ~ Spectrum (with Flow Resale)
4.18 La Grande, OR ~ Ten Depot
4.19 Pendleton, OR ~ Great Pacific
4.20 Portland, OR ~ Heavy Set
4.21 Portland, OR ~ Turn! Turn! Turn! (with Book of Colors, Maria Grand and Petit Poucet)
4.23 Port Townsend, WA ~ Cellar Door (with Micaela Kingslight)
4.25 Seattle, WA ~ Vermillion
4.26 Bellingham, WA ~ Alternative Library
4.27 Nehalem, OR ~ Starlight House Show
4.28 Canon Beach ~ Bald Eagle Gallery
5.3 Reno, NV ~ Dead Ringer